Many thanks to you all for such a great session yesterday. We hope both the parents and players enjoyed the format and competitive nature of the session.

Coach William - Green Team
Coach David - Black Team

The Chinnor U12 squad, divided into two well matched teams, played out a close match in the beautiful February sunshine this morning.

The black team, with Arthur Hill at scrum half and Jake Seddon captaining, boasted arguably the greater pace and rugby know-how in their line-up. Seddon’s blacks were set against a green team, with Corey Carberry at 9 and captain Mitchell Howard at 10, that had the advantage of a slightly more powerful set of ball-carriers.

Both sides showed plenty of intensity at the breakdown, but carelessness or perhaps a bit of rustiness with the ball and a lack of positional control led to frequent penalties and fragmented possession. The black team too often strayed offside, while the greens often abandoned their line positions and crowded the breakdown area, preventing playmaking between their scrum and fly halves.

That said, the first half finished 1-1 after tight exchanges and great commitment from both teams. The pick of the tries was Jake Seddon’s, going over after a passage of accurate back play, built on solid ball-retention by their forwards. Jonny Peel went over for the greens after effective phases of forward ball-carrying.

In the second half, though hampered by a lack of variety of play (made worse with Mitchell being substituted after taking a knoc ), the greens managed to get across twice (Sam Collard and Jonny) to the blacks’ once, using their ball-carrying power advantage and better directness to good effect. Gethyn Davies, whose excellent tackling was vital to the greens defence, was unlucky not to score after failing to ground properly, after arguably the greens best passage of play.

The black team’s second half try was again scored by Jake S, after his characteristic penetrative running, and accurate support play. Although it didn’t lead to points scored, a highlight was Jackson’s fabulous skill and bravery fielding a high ball, catching it with a leap and making fast yards up the touchline before being checked and brought down. But despite Jake S, Arthur and Ethan Kingsley among others working commendably hard to win the ball and get their team going forward, the greens held out for a well deserved win.

More care with the ball in open play and in contact/breakdown, along with better positional discipline and leadership/following instructions are the main areas of work the coaches would like to see all players give extra focus and effort to next session. Well done to all the boys, and thank you as ever to all parents for helping make the morning so fun spirited and enjoyable.

Ref's Observation :-

A great session evenly matched with some fabulous rugby.

Player Essential Work Ons

Teamwork : Essential Development needed here. Respect the captain and play maker organisers. A team cannot function with everyone screaming at each other and trying to be the boss.

Skills :

Passing & catching - a lot of dropped balls led to turnover

Tackling - We have worked a lot on tackling height and technique over the season and yet there were plenty of high tackles and upright tackles.

Distribution & Variety - using the width and team skills rather than doing the same thing every-time.

Rules - Lets make sure we watch some more rugby - understand the match play etc

Thanks once again

U12 Leadership.